They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. However, in the case of our forever first lady Michelle Obama, some have speculated that her noticeable absence from public events like President Donald Trump’s inauguration and former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral were signs that her marriage to former President Barack Obama is in trouble. But as the gossip mongers continue to go low, Michelle just did what she does best – she went high setting the record straight.
Suggested Reading
During an April 8 appearance on the “Work in Progress” podcast, the former first lady told host Sophia Bush that her recent absence from the spotlight has been a personal choice to reclaim her time. She added how it had nothing to do with marital problems with Barack.
“We as women, I think we struggle with disappointing people,” she said. “They couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself. That they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing. That this couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions herself. But that’s what society does to us.”
Obama, who has been married to Barack for over 30 years, has been open about the toll her family’s time in the White House took on everyone. In her book “Becoming,” the mother of two wrote about how she often felt misunderstood and how she struggled to hold on to her identity while protecting her daughters, Malia and Sasha, from scrutiny.
The former FLOTUS told Sophia Bush that she often used her kids and her role as the president’s wife as a reason to put her life on the back burner. Now that she’s made a conscious choice to step away from politics, she has time to figure out what she wants to do on her own terms.
“Now is the time for me to start asking myself these hard questions of ... ‘Who do I truly want to be every day?’ And that changes,” she said. “If it doesn’t fit into the sort of stereotype of what people think we should do, then it gets labeled as something negative and horrible.”
Although she’s stepping out of the spotlight, Obama hasn’t been spending her time on the couch binging Netflix – even though we would argue she has every right to. The Chicago native has written two whole books – “Becoming” and “The Light We Carry” – and produced the reality series “The Later Daters” through her company Higher Ground Productions. She’s also still deeply committed to her work to advance the rights of women and girls around the world.
“I still find time to you know, give speeches, to be out there in the world, to work on projects,” Obama said. “I still care about girls’ education.”
Straight From 
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.